Massachusetts Judge Criticized After Convicted Cop Shooter Accused In Cambridge Rampage

Massachusetts prosecutors are facing renewed scrutiny over a lenient plea deal handed to a convicted cop shooter who is now accused of unleashing terror on random drivers in a wild shooting rampage near Cambridge.

Tyler Brown, 46, allegedly fired between 50 and 60 rounds at vehicles Monday along Memorial Drive, critically injuring two men and sending panicked drivers scrambling for cover.

But years before the latest chaos, prosecutors warned Brown was already a ticking time bomb.

Brown pleaded guilty in 2021 to armed assault with intent to murder after firing 13 shots at Boston Police Department officers during a 2020 confrontation, including aiming a .40 caliber Glock directly at an officer’s chest at close range.

BREAKING: The man caught on video OPENING FIRE in the middle of a major Boston-area road today has been identified as VlOLENT career criminal Tyler Brown

Brown was SUPPOSED to be in prison for attempting to MURDER A COP, but a WOKE JUDGE let him out early

THESE JUDGES MUST GO!… pic.twitter.com/oNYiBRnXFV

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 11, 2026

Prosecutors pushed for a sentence of up to 12 years in prison followed by five years probation.

Instead, Judge Janet Sanders sentenced Brown to just five to six years behind bars with three years probation — despite Brown already being on probation for a 2014 assault conviction at the time.

The reduced sentence sparked outrage from then-Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins, who publicly apologized to the officers involved and blasted the ruling.

“I am disappointed in the sentence that was imposed,” Rollins said after the plea deal.

“This sentence doesn’t do that, and I want to personally apologize to each of these officers and their families,” she added, arguing prosecutors’ proposed sentence was “appropriate for the level of brazen violence committed.”

One officer involved in the 2020 shooting delivered an eerily prophetic warning during victim impact statements.

“I am a firm believer that when Mr. Tyler Brown gets out, he will hurt, or worse, kill someone,” the officer said, according to NBC10.

Brown was released from prison in January, according to Boston Police Commissioner William Gross.

Months later, authorities say he erupted into another violent frenzy.

Witnesses described sheer panic Monday as bullets ripped across Memorial Drive.

WOW: A Massachusetts State Trooper and HEROIC former U.S. Marine swiftly took down a career criminal who was firing indiscriminately at passing vehicles near Harvard, critically injuring two men. “Both the civilian [former Marine] and the trooper fired their weapons, and that… pic.twitter.com/YOebrl6WSS

— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) May 12, 2026

Driver Brandon Mansolf told WBZ-TV he ducked behind his dashboard after seeing Brown raise a gun toward him.

“State trooper pulled up directly on the side of me, got out, got behind his car right in front of my driver’s side mirror, got in the gunfight with him,” Mansolf said.

Another witness described the chaos as resembling a “video game,” while others recalled people abandoning vehicles and running for their lives.

“He’s shooting all over the place,” witness Todd Czubek told CBS. “People started to get out of their vehicles and run, including me.”

Brown was eventually confronted by a Massachusetts State Police trooper and an armed Marine licensed to carry a firearm. Authorities said Brown was struck multiple times during the exchange and hospitalized.

A suspected gunman with a lengthy criminal history, identified as Tyler Brown, allegedly opened fire on random drivers along a Massachusetts roadway, critically injuring two people as outrage builds over why he had previously been released from prison.

Authorities said the… pic.twitter.com/IGdEkf0XPh

— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 12, 2026

Marian Ryan, the Middlesex County District Attorney, said Brown is expected to face two counts of armed assault with intent to murder.

More over at The New York Post:

Prosecutors blasted sweetheart sentence handed to career criminal who then opened fire on random cars https://t.co/6J8GnRwoK0 pic.twitter.com/f6M6IE6YH6

— New York Post (@nypost) May 12, 2026